Electronic Identification
Electronic identification of everyday items
A range of scanning technology is now available to enable people who are blind or have low vision to easily identify items and products around them. Of course, there is always the option of using braille, bumpy stickers or Velcro, but these newer technologies offer far greater possibilities that improve independence.
Talking bar code scanner
The IDmate Omni is a talking bar code scanner that enables people to identify household items using the existing bar code on the packaging. It also comes with 1,000 extra sticky barcode labels that you can use to identify a range of items from bills to train timetables as well as iron-on labels to identify clothing.
Simply record whatever you wish to name the item and the IDmate stores that information to that particular bar code.
Funding grants area available to people who are unable to afford this product. For more more information visit the Visual Independence website.
PENfriend
The PENfriend is a lower cost alternative that uses optical technology to store recorded information onto a small sticky label ranging from the size of about a 5 cent to a 20 cent piece.
Unlike the IDmate, the PENfriend relies on you recording the information in the first instance and only one message can be recorded per label. It stores up to 70 hours worth of information in total.